What is the best type of armor samurai or knights?

Generally, yes, but samurai also wielded arquebi in later years (mostly after it was somewhat ACTUALLY effective). contrary to popular belief, the bushido code was only somewhat enforced, and your average samurai was just as much of a dick as any other soldier was.

and yes, gunfire is much louder and scarier, but you'd only really get one shot, since reloading took so damn long. by the time you've dropped another metal ball in and poured in another flask of powder, you've got a katana going through your neck. longbows were also superior in range.

Rayhawk wrote:I've always thought the knights armor made minifigs look kind of fat. The samurai armor makes them look awesome. And it still looks good in sci-fi settings, where the knight armor doesn't hold up as well. Therefore I vote for the samurai.

Cut off those little flaps in the front and Ta-da! with some muscle decals becomes awesome greek armour. or was it roman?

Hell, just cutting off those flaps makes it look cooler, I did it with my Grey Knight

Rayhawk wrote:I've always thought the knights armor made minifigs look kind of fat. The samurai armor makes them look awesome. And it still looks good in sci-fi settings, where the knight armor doesn't hold up as well. Therefore I vote for the samurai.

Cut off those little flaps in the front and Ta-da! with some muscle decals becomes awesome greek armour. or was it roman?

Hell, just cutting off those flaps makes it look cooler, I did it with my Grey Knight

knight armor was iron at best. Samurai come from japan, where they discovered how to make STEEL before anybody else. steel > iron.

furthermore, a samurai's blade is a katana, which are to this day revered as the best swords ever forged. a katana is made with several layers of folded steel, which is VASTLY superior to a european knight's longsword.

Rayhawk wrote:And although we don't normally think too much about morale advantages on this forum, gunfire is much louder and scarier than archery, and the psychological effects of that could hardly be overstated in a medieval environment.

Your right soldiers peasents etc etc... would think it was the earth rising up against them
A japanese Katana could cut through a knight sword but a knight sword would barely knick a katana

Rayhawk wrote:And although we don't normally think too much about morale advantages on this forum, gunfire is much louder and scarier than archery, and the psychological effects of that could hardly be overstated in a medieval environment.

Your right soldiers peasents etc etc... would think it was the earth rising up against themA japanese Katana could cut through a knight sword but a knight sword would barely knick a katana

Hence the katana wins

edit: der dA der

The point of a sword is not to cut through another sword, but to cut through the person wielding it.

Blitzen wrote:To 4: Japan has some of the worst iron ever. The only reason they folded it was to make its quality equal to or greater than that of Europe's.

To create a katana, a 4-day iron smelting process was used, in which the pig iron ore was cooked inside a clay oven with a precise mixture of carbon. The clay cover was later broken and the purified steel removed in chucks. Only the purest samples were used in weapon-smithing. The sword-smith would then work out the impurities and folded the steel to create the legendary strength of the katana. It is important to note that while variations in the number of folds exist, modern science has found that 7 is the optimal number of folds, anything beyond this does not enchance the strength of the blade. It is also notable that various coatings applied to the blade during the final stages of the smithing alter the properties of the steel, such that the sharpened edge is much harder and retains it's cutting ability, while the back of the blade is more elastic and can withstand the stress of impact better.

Blitzen wrote:To 4: Japan has some of the worst iron ever. The only reason they folded it was to make its quality equal to or greater than that of Europe's.

To create a katana, a 4-day iron smelting process was used, in which the pig iron ore was cooked inside a clay oven with a precise mixture of carbon. The clay cover was later broken and the purified steel removed in chucks. Only the purest samples were used in weapon-smithing. The sword-smith would then work out the impurities and folded the steel to create the legendary strength of the katana. It is important to note that while variations in the number of folds exist, modern science has found that 7 is the optimal number of folds, anything beyond this does not enchance the strength of the blade. It is also notable that various coatings applied to the blade during the final stages of the smithing alter the properties of the steel, such that the sharpened edge is much harder and retains it's cutting ability, while the back of the blade is more elastic and can withstand the stress of impact better.

Which is almost like what I said, except I didn't make a really long paragraph.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folded_steelThe most famous part of the manufacturing process was the folding of the steel. Japanese swords and other edged weapons are manufactured by the Chinese method of repeatedly heating, folding and hammering the metal. This practice became popular due to the use of highly impure metals, stemming from the low temperature yielded in the smelting at that time and place. The folding did several things:

* It eliminated any bubbles in the metal.
* It homogenized the metal, spreading the elements (such as carbon) evenly throughout - increasing the effective strength by decreasing the number of potential weak points.
* It burned off many impurities, helping to overcome the poor quality of the raw Japanese steel.
* It created layers, by continuously decarburizing the surface and bringing it into the blade's interior, which gives the swords their grain (for comparison see pattern welding); however, the belief that the layered structure provides enhanced mechanical properties of the steel is false, as layers act as weld points which can only serve to weaken the integrity of the blade.

Often, literally, a pillow fight but may include similar situations like volleyball, particularly when wardrobe is skimpy and the action is bouncy.